"This above all, unto
thine own self be true."
William
Shakespeare
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'Framework for Unfairness'
UK Government plans to omit transgendered people
from anti-discrimination legislation.
Natacha
Kennedy 26 June 2007
The UK Government is planning an
all-encompassing anti discrimination bill, which it calls 'Framework for
Fairness' which will bring together all the current different pieces of
legislation brought in to prevent discrimination against people on the grounds
of race, sex, religion, sexuality, disability and transgender status.
But the government is planning to leave out
of this single equality bill one particular group; transgendered people. Unless
you are a transsexual who is registered as such the new proposals will not
prevent people from discriminating against you.
Consultation Period
The proposals, which are open for free
consultation until September 4th 2007, argue that the law should not be used to
protect transgendred men and women who "choose to adopt the appearance of the
opposite sex on a temporary basis as a matter of lifestyle choice" it describes
the new law as "intended to provide protection for transsexual people with a
diagnosable medical condition, and who intend to or are
living permanently in their acquired gender, rather than those who temporarily
adopt the appearance of a different gender, perhaps as a matter of lifestyle
choice."
Already transgendered people have reacted
strongly to these sections of the consultation document; arguing that being
transgendered is not a matter of 'lifestyle choice' and suggesting that the
people who drafted the document know little about transgendered people. One MtoF
transvestite said; "This isn't a matter of lifestyle choice, I was born like
this. I didn't choose to be transgendered. This isn't my lifestyle, this is my
life!"
Being excluded
Although this new legislation only really
brings all the existing anti-discrimination legislation under one umbrella and
does not - for the most part - seek to extend anti discrimination protection the
effect will be rather different. Being the only group left outside the
protection of the law will result in those bigots, Nazis, bullies and
hate-mongers picking on transgendered. It will be like having a neon sign
errected by the government which says 'Pick on these people'
Comment
This is an opportunity for transgendred
people as well as a threat. We must persuade the government to change its mind
and include us in this bill. What is the point of a piece of legislation which
is about inclusing being designed to be exclusive of one partticular group?
Increasingly, legislatures around the world - most recently the state of New
Jersey - have been recognising the importance of supporting transgendered people
and that transgendered people need the protection of the law like everyone else.
At the moment transgendered people can be sacked, bullied, harrassed or
victimised at work, even if they never show their transgendered appearance at
work, completely legally. Transgendered people can be refused goods and
services, completely legally and transgendered people currently have to live in
the knowledge that the UK government does not take seriously their fears and
problems.
The effect of this large, all-encompassing
anti-discrimination legislation will result in those left outside its scope
being increasingly harrassed and targeted by bullies and bigots wherever they
may be found.
It is a measure of how comprehensively
transgendered people feel discriminated against that so few feel that they can
'come out' publicly. Most transgendered people live unhappy and unfulfilling
lives because they are not allowed to be who they are. We now have a chance
which may not be available to us for many years, to argue our case and be
acknowledged as a community which has a constructive role to play in our
society.
A chilling statistic; in the United States
the chances of being murdered are 1 in 18,000 for the population as a whole. If
you are male to female transgendered the odds on you being murdered are 1 in 12.
It s vital that TGs are protected here by the law, we all run greater risks just
being ourselves in our everyday lives, going out, sitting at home, using the bus
or the tube, going shopping, visiting friends, sleeping and making love. Many of
the activities which most people take for granted are more risky for us. This is
not a "lifestyle choice", this is living under the permanent threat of violence,
harrassment and bullying on a daily basis. It means being refused service in
shops, restaurants or cafes, it means being harrassed in the street, it means
being refused cab rides home, it means being forced to move by neighbours.
Transgendered people are not asking for the
Earth, we are simply asking for the same sort of reasonable protection under the
law which every other man, woman and child has in the UK. The new prime minister
Gordon Brown said, on his first day in office, "I want the best of chances for
everyone. That is my mission - that if we can fulfil the potential and realise
the talents of all our people, then I am absolutely sure that Britain can be the
great global success story of this century." Let us hold him to his words.
As a trans girl I spent half my life feeling
guilty or ashamed of who I am, I underachieved in all areas. Now that I have
decided to be myself, my achievements have been greater, my life more fulfilling
and my contribution to society many times greater. Just imagine this multiplied
by 600,000. Let us be true to ourselves.
I urge all transgendered people and their
friends, partners and supporters to use the links above to the consultation site
and to respond to this consultation before time runs out on the 4th of
September.
Natacha
Kennedy 26 June 2007
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